Mount Princeton via East SlopesTigger Peak

January 16, 2010Total time: 14 hours at a very leisurely pace.

The Mt. Princeton road was well packed by snowmobiles to the radio towers and was still hard enough to walk all the way to 11,500 where we left the road to head up toward "Tigger Peak". We talked to another hiker who hiked the road up to 11,800 (where the trail usually leaves the road), and he said there were some questionable snow slopes he had to cross. For us, there where several previous slopes that had to be crossed further down the road, but all could be done carefully without snowshoes.

The ridge of Tigger was almost 100% free of snow. The patches were all avoidable.

Once on Tigger, the trail became much better and the rest of the way to Princeton was clear.

We were very fortunate to have the wind stop on the way up to the summit. Once on top, my thermometer read close to 50F. It felt like cheating to be on a peak in January in warmer weather than some summer summits.

The weather was wonderful and the conditions were clear. We carried our snowshoes the entire way without using them. We thought of returning on the standard trail but decided against it after reading other winter reports discussing sketchy gullies not visible from the ridge. The return over Tigger only adds about two hundred feet gain.

The hike out was a haul, but as dusk set in, the views were beautiful. Especially as the sun lingered on Pikes.